It was another day for us to visit one those temples for the pilgrimage. This one is number 13. It is called, The Chuzenji-temple. It was Sunday and it was supposed to be the best time for catching the colored leaves. (kouyou)

Well, since we both had quite a rough night previously, we missed the 7:45am train I reserved. So ended up on 10:40am train and arrived in Tobu Nikko station at 12:30pm. Nikko is as you know a famous tourist town for Toushogu temple (World Heritage) and its lake called Chuzenji with lots nature sightseeing spots like, Kegon Fall, Ryuzu Fall, Hot-Spring..you name it. And it is located in Tochigi pref. about 2hrs train ride from Tokyo Asakusa.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html

I went there once on a school excursion when I was about 13 yr old. So it’s been like over 10yrs… Anyway, it was the same for my mom. Trust me, the scene has definitely changed. I meant about the tourists and all. OMG… there were sooo many foreigners!!! And English/Korean/Chinese signs are everywhere. English menus… It was amazing.

Well, to be able to get to all those sights in Nikko, the only way is by bus services from Nikko Station. We bought  one day pass to go around Chuzenji area for 2,000yen/ticket. And off we were to Chuzenji lake. Chuzenji Temple is located just beside the lake. It took about 40min to get to the lake.

On the top: They are called ”Ekiben” which mean lunch box you have on train journeys. This is one way for Japanese to enjoy a train ride on a trip!!

The bottom: This is a big Torii, an entrance of a shrine at Chuzenji lake.

This is Chuzenji lake. Despite the weather, it was still beautiful. Haven’t been out to see a lake for a long time. It was just breathtaking….

It was covered in cloud but this is the Nantai Mounatin.

There is a mountain called ” Mt.Nantaisan” beside it and this lake was made because of the explosion of this Mt. about 20,000yrs ago. Highest location of a lake in Japan. About 1,200m above sea level. The weather was cloudy but it looked so beautiful. The mountain already had some colored trees and occasional sunshine through clouds were highlighting the color…

Well, we got off at the Chuzenji bus stop and walked to the temple, which was about 800m.

This is the main entrance of the temple.

This temple was founded about 1,300yrs ago by a monk called, Shonin. He climbed the Nantaisan for the first time in history.  Also this temple is famous for a statute of Buddha craved in a live big Japanese Judas Tree (Katsura). It is still kept inside the main praying house here and the tree is still alive!! I never knew about this but it was just marvelous to see.

This photo is taken from the temple’s official website.

(http://www.rinnoji.or.jp/keidai/tyuzenji/tyuzenji.html)

This is the actual image, I don’t have the photo of it as these places usually prohibit photography. It is called ”Tachiki Kannon” Tachi means standing, Ki mean the tree so there you go. Buddha in a live standing tree. This temple is said to make any wishes come true.

After we had our book signed, we went up to the main house of prayers on top of the hill where you can catch the best view of the lake. It was just mystical… Just thinking about how this view has been the same for centuries..

This is the view from the balcony of the main praying house up on the hill. Gorgeous view.

Feeling the cold and breathing the white breath, we were thinking that the winter has arrived in this town already….and thinking how far we have come…